I'll Be Your Superhero
by Jeakat
Summary: "Come on, Leah," the voice breathed in her ear, "Wake up."  Again Leah tried to form a response, do anything to reassure the person that she was awake, but she still couldn't manage it. Even breathing felt like a chore. Halloween one-shot.


Usually Halloween was chocked full of candy, ghouls, goblins, fake blood, Jack o' Lanterns and terrible, cheap production horror movies. But not for Leah Clearwater. Sure, she had the blood part. Plenty of it in fact. The only problem was it _wasn't_ fake.

Her hand desperately clutched the side of her ribs in a hopeless attempt to stem the blood flowing from the giant gash that ran all the way from under her armpit right down to just above her knee. She stumbled on through the dark woods, her feet scraping up dirt as she went. It usually wasn't a problem for the she-wolf to navigate her was through the thick underbrush and scrub, but her vision was becoming blurred around the edges, sometimes fading out altogether, a dark blue/black film descending over her eyes.

She squinted in an effort to see past the haze and try to figure out exactly what part of the forest she was in. She could phase into her wolf form to howl for her pack mates but she figured her injuries would only get worse if she did. Plus they hurt like a bitch and she knew that changing her shape would be even less pleasant than the excruciating agony she was currently trying- and failing- to push through. Deciding to phase back into a human straight after the fight had been a stupid move, but Leah had seen some of the other wolves get hurt before. She knew that it took a lot of focus to phase back through the pain, so she'd started immediately, not expecting quick results.

She resolved that she wouldn't panic when she still couldn't figure out where exactly she was. Her eyes darted back and forth, trying to find a familiar sight among the haphazard rows of moss covered trees.

She chuckled, thinking that she probably looked like an extra in one of those crap Halloween slasher films- stumbling through the woods naked, blood covering her entire body- before realising that laughing hurt a great deal more than she'd anticipated.

_Where was her pack exactly? _She thought, still not allowing herself to give in to the pain that was wracking her body. Oh that's right, they were all over at the new Mr and Mrs Uley's house, the Halloween party no doubt in full swing by now.

Nothing on this earth could have possessed Leah to attend that little shindig. Not Seth pleading with his puppy dog eyes, not Claire asking nicely (a favour for Quil, no doubt), nor Emily's face, crumpled in barely masked pain at Leah's refusal. Even Jacob had got in on the act, promising to do her patrols for two months straight. That offer had at least been tempting but then Leah realised that Jacob would just make the rest of the pack do her patrols for her instead of Jacob doing it himself, and she didn't want to deal with the bickering that would be inevitable if she accepted the offer.

Practically everyone in La Push had been invited to the party. Leah had been one of only a handful to decline, so she knew she was alone out here. At least she didn't have to worry about the leech following her. After he'd managed to rip Leah half apart, she'd managed to tear him to pieces. She hoped the pack would see the acrid smoke of the fire she'd started, though by now it was probably simmering down.

All hope Leah had of making it back to La Push was starting to dissolve with every lurching step forward, assessing her injuries as she went. The worst one was the huge gash, but she had cuts up and down her body. Some were large and deep, taking a while to heal, while others had already closed over, leaving faint pink puckers that would be gone by morning. If she made it to morning that is.

Her left arm was most definitely broken. She didn't need to be a doctor to figure that one out as it was bent at such an odd angle it even made her strong stomach flip. Her right ankle also felt broken and the swelling around the joint had rapidly turned yellow, then blue and was now a dark purplish color. It was easier not to put pressure on it and simply drag her leg behind her. Unfortunately that also meant that her foot was acting like a plough through the dirt, collecting more the further she went, adding to her already insanely high discomfort.

The world started spinning around her. Black, green and brown all swirled into one as the forest tilted and swayed. It was like being drunk in a funhouse at a fair, except that Leah was actually beginning to get scared. She staggered on forward, but the combination of dizziness and her injuries made her fall, scraping herself on the rough, uneven bark of a nearby tree. The fresh cuts barely registered, her nerve-endings experiencing so much pain that each new jolt was starting to have a strangely numbing effect. All the throbbing, aching and stinging melding into one, enveloping her whole body.

Her face landed with a crack against an exposed tree root, no doubt breaking her cheekbone in the process. She could feel as dirt clods, twigs and rogue leaves embedded themselves in her wounds and her world slowly faded to black. With a final huff- which sent a plume of soil particles right up her nose, not that she cared anymore- Leah finally closed her eyes and gave in.

* * *

Her eyelids felt heavy. Much too heavy. She couldn't open them if she tried. Not that she wanted to, she didn't want to move at all. Though, she would need to be able to see to figure out what was going on.

She could hear voices. They sounded far away, as if she was wearing earplugs, or someone had the TV on a low volume in another room. In fact, she couldn't be sure that it wasn't a TV she was hearing.

Leah couldn't even remember where she was before she'd gone to sleep, never mind try to figure out where she was now. Underneath the layers of pain that were slowly starting to come back into her consciousness she could detect something soft. She must be in her bed. _But why were there voices then?_ If the pack had come round just to eat her food and watch her TV- _again_- then she was going to be pissed. She'd kick them all out. If only she could move.

"... to be alright?"

"We're doing all we can. Her healing seems..."

Leah's relief at finally being able to figure out what the voices were saying, albeit partially, was short lived. As her awareness grew, the throbbing and pulsing beats of agony also came into sharper focus. She clenched her teeth and hissed through them, just wanting, more than anything, to fall back into the dreamy haze. The one where the pain was nothing more than a slight irritation.

She felt something. Something foreign spread throughout her arm, starting at her elbow and working down towards her curled fingers and up towards her pounding shoulder. It felt as though she'd been injected with something, though she hadn't felt the needle piercing her tender skin. She didn't have time to wonder why as she slowly slipped back...

* * *

Waking this time was different. Instead of feeling like an invisible weight was pressing her down- keeping her immobile and under a cloud of confusion- she could feel everything. She even remembered how she'd got to this stage. A vampire. One leech had managed to do all this damage, and he hadn't even been a newborn.

She'd been caught off guard. The threat of impending vampire attacks had dwindled down into almost nothing since the Cullen's had moved a year ago- they were no longer attracted to area by the strange vegetarian bloodsuckers. Leah supposed she was getting complacent. They all were.

There had been some major celebrating when the Cullen's had upped and left without a word not two weeks after Bella's wedding. Even Leah had attended that particular gathering. The only dark spot among the revelry was the pity felt for Charlie Swan. Not that he'd attended of course. He knew nothing about the celebrations. But still, everyone felt for the man that had lost his daughter.

Jake had gone AWOL again, not knowing whether Bella was dead or a bloodsucker. It didn't really matter to the wolves, it was the same thing to them. Sam had ordered him home when his thoughts turned completely animalistic, afraid that he'd left it too long and the human in Jacob had been permanently lost.

Jacob returned, though he wasn't the same. It wasn't down to Sam's concerns- Jacob still had his humanity- but it felt like there was a piece of him missing without Bella. Slowly but surely he was able to get over her, not having to face her everyday helped significantly. If only she'd left him alone after she'd saved her bloodsucker in Italy, Jacob would have been fine long before then.

Still though, he resented Sam. They all knew one way or another that the treaty had been broken and yet Sam refused to act upon it. He'd told Jacob that even if the Cullens had stayed in the area they wouldn't attack- Bella had been a willing victim. Jacob never quite forgave Sam and after one disagreement too many Jacob broke away and formed his own pack.

Leah surprisingly had been the first one to join, in her desperation to escape Sam. Seth, Quil and Embry soon followed and their little pack was born. In hindsight they could all agree that it had been a good decision. The pack of ten was beginning to get unmanageable, Leah and Sam were both happier now that they had some distance and the hostility between Sam and Jacob diminished not long after the split.

Leah groaned, remembering the way the leech had sprung at her. She'd been running her usual patrol route. She thought she was being vigilant, taking in every sight and smell in the dank forest. Sure, her mind was on the party, wondering if everyone was having a nice time without her- _did they even miss her?_ Did _they wish she was there? _

_Probably not. _

Leah had foolishly forgotten to check downwind when she decided to have a drink from the nearby river. The ice cold water felt good as she lapped it up with her elongated tongue. The contrast in temperature between the freezing water and her scorching skin was so refreshing.

Then, literally out of nowhere, a flash of white burst through the trees, sailing silently through the crisp October air. Leah had no time to dodge the attack, so she settled for bracing herself against the impact.

The leech's stone cold body collided with hers, catapulting them both with the sheer force of his strike and snapping the she-wolf's front leg in the process. The shattering of bone echoed in the small clearing as the two wrestled, creating a ball of pale marble and grey fur.

Leah acted purely on her instinct, giving herself in to her wolf, letting the animal control her movements as she weaved and bobbed out of the leech's grasp. Both took defensive stances as hisses and growls erupted through the night.

The bloodsucker lunged towards her, but this time Leah could see the move coming. She sidestepped at the last minute, thinking she had dodged the attack. But she hadn't moved far enough and the leech's iron hard nails clawed down her flank, instantly producing a steady stream of thick, dark blood.

They continued their battle furiously, Leah only gaining the upper hand when she managed to relieve the parasite of his left arm, whipped her head and throwing it aside, aiming away from the river- she could do without a swim downstream to fetch it when she'd won.

However, the leech wasn't done yet. He sprang at her once more, all caution tossed aside with the need to exact revenge on his opponent. Leah's teeth desperately sought for purchase on his stone body as his hands tore frantically through her fur, grasping and clawing the soft skin underneath.

With a deep howl of pain, Leah's teeth sunk into his torso and a strangled, high pitched keening sound escaped the vampire's lips. With his head thrown back in agony, Leah saw her opportunity and efficiently ripped his head from shoulders.

She discarded the head, its black hair rolling in the dirt, as she thought about her options. There was no way to set fire to the remains without phasing back, but it would probably take too long with the amount of pain she was in. She resolved to scatter the pieces as far as she could- given the state she was in- while trying to calm herself enough to shift back. Once she alerted the pack they could come back and build a fire.

She began to concentrate on phasing back as she made her way to the leech's torso and was surprised when she managed it almost without effort. Phasing back so suddenly took her off guard and she fell to the damp forest floor, her body in the wrong position to support her on two legs instead of four.

She groaned, the fall affecting every one of her injuries and reached down to her ankle for her clothes. During the fight her clothes had somehow been shredded where they were tied but with relief Leah noticed that the lighter she always kept in her shorts pocket was still there.

She dragged herself over to the remains of the leech, glad that she hadn't ripped him into tiny pieces yet and quickly lit the fire.

Leah grunted in discomfort at the memory. Remembering why she was in so much pain hadn't helped. If anything it just made it all so much worse, reliving every cut, tear and snap.

Her ankle was throbbing, her arm still felt oddly numb- though there was a strange pulsing coming from her wrist. The gash down the side of her body felt like it was on fire and her right hand was incredibly warm.

_Wait. That doesn't make any sense_.

What type of injury caused you to get warm? Only infections, but Leah knew that her body temperature made it impossible for her to get an infection. In fact, she didn't remember receiving a wound to her right hand in the first place.

"Leah?" a familiar voice called, "Can you hear me?"

The voice was sharper, crisper than those she had heard earlier but Leah still couldn't place it. There was a gentle pressure on her hand and Leah realised that someone was holding it. Someone warm. A wolf, but she still didn't know who. At least she'd been found, she thought with a sigh.

"Leah?"

She tried to form a response but her mouth wouldn't work. It felt like there was a vice on her jaw, locking it in place.

"Sue!" The voice called, much too loudly. "I think she's waking up."

Leah heard a click to her left as the door opened, and the patter of feet as they shuffled towards her.

"I don't think she's going to wake up anytime soon." Sue sighed, "The amount of morphine I gave her should keep her out for a while."

Leah was relieved to hear her mother's voice, always so sure and strong, like its owner, although part of her wished that her mother didn't have to see her like this. Leah was sure she wasn't a pretty sight right now. Sometimes it sucked that her mother was a nurse, she'd feel much better if someone else was providing the care. She'd even settle for Dr Cullen, if only for her mom not to see her.

Leah heard the shuffling again before the door closed once more, signalling her mother's departure. A deep sigh came from her right, belonging to the person she didn't recognise.

"Come on, Leah," the voice breathed in her ear, "Wake up."

Again Leah tried to form a response, do anything to reassure the person that she was awake, but she still couldn't manage it. Even breathing felt like a chore as her breaths came in little more than raspy gasps, the burning sting increasing with every inhale. Her head was beginning to feel fuzzy again, the fog descending over her thoughts once more.

"I'm so sorry. We shouldn't have left you to patrol alone."

She wanted to tell them not to worry, she was a big girl, she could handle it but the blackness enveloped her again, swallowing her thoughts and dragging her back into unconsciousness.

* * *

Leah had the strangest sense of déjà vu. She woke and her body was still wracked with pain. Her breaths still grated her parched throat and her hand was still incredibly warm. The only difference was that she wasn't sucked back into how she had managed to get to this stage- that she remembered perfectly.

Another difference, she soon discovered, was her ability to open her eyes. It was still a struggle and her eyelids still felt as if they weighed 20lbs- _each_- but somehow she managed it- the sound of her long eyelashes brushing against her skin immediately alerting the other person in the room.

The person hopped up and loomed over the petite figure in the bed, "Oh Leah, you're awake." They sighed.

Leah tried once again to figure out which wolf it was, believing that her newfound ability to see would help somewhat, but it didn't. The florescent light, shining brightly above Leah's head, creating a constant low humming noise in the quiet room, was directly above the figure, casting any recognisable features in shadow. The only thing Leah could actually see was a giant yellow 'S' emblazoned on the man's chest.

_Wasn't that the Superman logo?_

_Why the hell was Superman with her?_

At this point Leah wouldn't be surprised if Superman did actually exist. Vampires and werewolves did, why couldn't superheroes? Maybe Superman wrote all the comics himself, though that would be pretty self-indulgent- she reasoned. Or perhaps, and this was the more likely of the options, she was simply delusional.

Maybe she wasn't a wolf after all and the last two years had been some sort of freaky assed dream. Now that she'd woken up she could go back to her normal life, in a normal world, where she and Sam were still together. She frowned, not sure if she actually wanted that anymore. Sure, Sam had been a major part of her life, she_ was_ going to marry the man after all. But she'd moved on, got over him. She no longer saw him through rose-tinted glasses and could finally admit that maybe he wasn't the best man for her.

"Leah. Leah? Are you ok?" Superman asked.

Her eyes darted round the room, training her eyes to adjust to the light. She was in a hospital room, no surprises there.

"Leah, please answer me."

Leah opened her mouth and once again tried to form words but she started coughing, the movements raking fire up and down her sore throat.

Superman quickly darted round the bed. "Here." He spoke gently while cupping the back of her head in his massive hand. Bringing her head up, he lifted a cup of water- possibly the single greatest sight Leah had ever seen- to her dry, cracked lips.

She gulped the cool water down with abandon, the fierceness of her movements surprising even herself.

"More?" Superman asked when she'd greedily swallowed the last drop. She shook her head as Superman perched on the edge of the bed and lowered her head back, though his hand didn't move from holding- his thick fingers gently stroking the matted hair on the back of her skull.

"I was so worried about you." He breathed.

Feeling better after the much needed drink, Leah managed to turn slightly, moving her head to look up at the huge figure, meeting his eyes which she could easily see were filled with concern judging by the deep frown set on his russet face.

"Jacob?" Leah rasped.

"Hey, Lee." He smiled and, though it was small, the frown instantly dissolved from his features.

Before she could ask him what he was doing here the door opened.

"Jacob", Sue's voice warned, though she didn't look up from the chart she was holding, "How many times do I have to tell you to go home?"

"She's awake, Sue."

The chart was instantly abandoned at the foot of the bed as Sue came closer to her daughter, confirming Jacob's words.

"How're you feeling, hon?" Sue asked, her delicate hand sweeping Leah's forehead, pushing loose tendrils of midnight hair off her face.

"I'm ok." Leah answered in a voice reminiscent of a smoker with a one hundred a day habit.

Sue tutted loudly, shooting a classic 'Clearwater Glare' Jacob's way, "Why didn't you give her any water?" she chastised.

"I did. I gave her a cup full, but she didn't want any more."

Sue peered down at the bruised face of her only daughter, working hard to conceal the concern she felt, not wanting to upset Leah. "Do you want some more now?"

Leah shook her head, partly because she didn't actually want any more water, and partly to save Jacob a lecture from her mother. You don't want to get on the wrong side of Sue Clearwater. Ever.

Sue frowned, deepening the faint wrinkles that had developed on her forehead since her husbands passing. "Well… I can't stay long. I'm still on duty and I stopped by to see how you were doing. I didn't expect you to be awake."

"Sss fine, mom," Leah mumbled, trying to make her voice sound as casual as possible. She knew from the worried look on her mothers face that Sue wasn't supposed to be in here. No doubt she'd already been spoken to by her superiors at the hospital.

"I'll come back in a bit to check on you again," Sue said as she lent down to place a gentle kiss on her daughter's clammy forehead, "You get some rest now."

"Don't get into trouble over me, mom. I'll be fine."

"Psst!" Sue snorted, waving her hand in air, "You really think they're going to give me trouble seeing my only daughter? Ha! I'd like to see them try."

Jacob chuckled before Sue turned and left the room, obviously amused by the clear similarities between her and Leah.

"So…" Leah croaked as she shifted onto her side, looking up at the man still perched on the bed beside her, "What happened?"

"I was hoping you could tell me." Jacob sighed, a small frown playing on his prominent features.

With a groan Leah replayed the evening for him, the parts she could remember. She stopped when she passed out in the woods, "So now you know what happened to me, what happened after that? How did you find me?"

Jacob took a slow, deep breath, running his large hand down his face before looking down at the small figure in the bed. Leah's face was tucked neatly into the pillow, her eyes met his with a burning curiosity, and suddenly Jacob didn't know how to word his reply.

"Well… I was at the party, obviously, you already knew that…" he stammered, nervously rambling, "and I just felt, I don't know…off. Like something wasn't right. I didn't know what it was but the longer I ignored it, the worse it got. I knew you'd gone on patrol so I went to phase just to check up on you. But then… you weren't there." He took in a shaky breath, causing Leah to gently squeeze the hand that was pressed on the mattress. Jacob smiled at her, his chocolate eyes softening as he held on to her hand, "And I panicked, Leah. Like totally panicked. I ran to your house, but I just had this crazy feeling that you weren't there. I was right, so I took off into the woods and howled for the rest of the pack. We searched for hours for you and…when…"

Jacob didn't finish his sentence, simply letting the words hang there in the air, gaining weight every second neither of them spoke. The only sound was the faint drip of the IV and their breathing, slow and steady.

Leah didn't really want to press him further, knowing that it was obviously difficult to talk about but there was something she needed to know.

"Hey, why'd you bring me to the hospital?" she rasped, "Doesn't this compromise our secret?"

"Not really, you were mainly healed by the time I got you in here. No one will suspect anything."

"But… I know I had broken bones, Jake. They're going to expect me to wear a cast for at least…"

She trailed off as soon as she felt Jacob tremble beside her. Her hand, still encompassed by his, rattled with the vibrations as Jacob fought to keep the change at bay. The fastenings under the metal framed hospital bed jangled and clinked in time with his quivering, slowly settling into silence as he brought his body back under control.

"Jacob? What's wrong? "Leah asked, concerned. Jacob had the best self control out of all the wolves, it took an awful lot to even elicit a slight tremor from the young Alpha. She should know, she'd tried and failed on numerous occasions to get a rise out of him, oftentimes when they argued about pack business. Beta always caved before Alpha.

Jacob's face was set into a deep grimace. Through his clenched teeth Jacob managed to bite out, "Your ankle and your arm were broken, " he shuddered, "I had to reset them before we got here." He turned his head away from Leah, unable to meet her eyes.

It was bad enough that he'd had to cause the cracking and snapping of her bones as he set them back into place (thank Taha Aki she'd been unconscious as he'd never have been able to do it if she'd been screaming in pain.) On top of that he now had to confess doing that to her. It would do no good to keep it from her, she'd ask one of the guys and they'd be more than happy to tell her how their Alpha had cradled her naked body to his chest, not able to contain his primitive, ferocious growls when his pack brothers approached.

Or how he'd suddenly whipped his costume from the cord on his ankle, ripping the red cape sewn into the shoulders before draping across her small, bloodied and bruised form as the rest of the packs decided what to do. Taking her to the hospital seemed like the best option. Sue would be there and god knows none of_ them_ had any medical experience. Jacob was seriously debating trying to get hold of the leech doctor. He never wanted to see any of the _Cullens _ever again, but he'd make an exception for Leah's wellbeing.

When Sam had oh so intelligently pointed out that she couldn't be seen with broken bones that healed in a matter of hours or days Jacob had taken it upon himself to re-break her bones himself- not trusting anyone else to do it, even though he had no idea what he was doing.

"Oh." Was Leah's only response, her full lips pulling into a pout.

"Oh." Jacob repeated, sighing.

It was silent again for a few minutes before Leah broke it with a whispered, "Thank you."

Jacob's eyebrows shot up as his gaze snapped to hers, her hazel eyes softening with the small smile developing on her lips. "What?"

"Thank you." She stated as if the two words were obvious.

"Why?"

"Why'd you think? For finding me, for _fixing_ me. I don't think I'd have been able to do what you did. In fact I_ know_ I wouldn't."

Jacob let out a small, hollow sounding chuckle, "Don't be ridiculous, Lee. You're the strongest person I know," he brushed Leah's forehead tenderly, much as her mother had done, as she smiled up at him, a light blush gracing her bruised cheeks, making her look adorable.

His smile dropped, "I thought you'd be angry with me." He whispered.

It was Leah's turn to laugh as she looked up at her Alpha, "Jake, you're an idiot. I have no reason to be angry with you. You saved me." Pointing up at the costume Jacob still wore (not having even left the room since she was brought in) "My Superman."

Jacob rolled his eyes as he slouched down the bed to lie next to her. Tucking her warm body into his Jacob suddenly realised something:

He'd do anything for his Beta. His Leah. Always ready, willing and able to be her Superman, whenever she wanted.

* * *

**A/N: Ok, so this was originally going to be part of MidnightStarr's Halloween one-shot challenge, but I went way, way over the word count! Like 3000 words over the word count!**

**I'm really trying to develop my descriptive writing so please let me know what you think, too much, too little? **


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